Everhart Financial Group Inc. Buys 6,811 Shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) by 37.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,811 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NiSource were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NI. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of NiSource during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in NiSource by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in NiSource in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in NiSource in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NiSource Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NI traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.62. 3,103,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,219,067. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.20 and its 200-day moving average is $28.35. NiSource Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.86 and a 12-month high of $32.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. NiSource had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NiSource Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

NiSource Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. NiSource’s payout ratio is presently 69.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NiSource news, SVP Melanie B. Berman sold 3,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $104,626.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,978 shares in the company, valued at $558,584.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho initiated coverage on NiSource in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on NiSource from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

NiSource Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.